What Could Be Considered the "Standard" Alien Design?

[AcidForBlood]

The designs in all 4 alien (and avp movies) have all varied. I was just wondering what everyone agrees is the basic design of the alien... if there is one. Or maybe WHY there are design differences (e.g. surroundings, just the way the aliens are). I've always wondered what people think of when they think of a xenomorph.

[OmegaZilla]

Designs from the first two films are what I think fo when I talk about the Alien.

As far as design differences go, I'd divide them in types.

Alien -- type A
Aliens -- type A, possibly type B
Alien3 -- Same as Aliens
Alien Resurrection -- Mutated type A/B
Alien Vs. Predator -- type C
AvPR -- type C, possibly deformed

[AcidForBlood]

Yeah, I always think of the translucent head and the spiny tail such as the one in Rez. Although in Rez the aliens' mouth were able to move from side to side... kind of weird for me.

[StrangeShape]

Well the real life reasons are that in Aliens they tried to slightly move away from a man of the suit look, thus redoing hands and using puppets, and found the head designs interesting, thus removing dome. From then on its pretty much different designers trying to put their stamps on the creature, kinda like doing a cover of a song

Here are torsos and body designs of all the aliens, click to enlarge


Comic books as well had many different variants, except for some artists who faithfully recreated designs from certain movies. I guess the only standard for alien design is that it has a long head, ribcage , no eyes and double mouth.

[ShadowPred]

I just think of Cameron's Aliens. They are pretty much what everyone else draws in comic books. When it comes to video games they are the most used as well, and I don't doubt that any other medium would use Cameron's design most of the time.

[AcidForBlood]

Thanks for the pics strange shape. And yeah it seems that Cameron's aliens are used an awful lot in most other media.

[episodenone]

well - since they are shaped by the host as much as anything else -- and they arent clones -- um, they just look different.

[Nightmare Asylum]

To me, when I think of the Alien, I always think of the one in the first movie. Its the scariest and best looking (in my opinion, of course), and while the Aliens variant may be the one used in most media, the design from Alien is the original; without it, we wouldn't have had any of the other designs (the good ones or the bad ones).

[StrangeShape]

To me, when I think of the Alien, I always think of the one in the first movie.

Me too, but I think today the general audience thinks of ADI design with the pointy head. hell, even the Deacon has a lot in common with ADI aliens rather than Giger/Winston aliens

[Nightmare Asylum]

I'm not going to lie, I really have no problem at all with the Aliens from AR and AVP. I mean, they have nothing on the original, but they don't look bad at all. And in the case of AR, I'm fine thinking of the differences in looks/actions as being side effects of the cloning process.

[StrangeShape]

I'm not going to lie, I really have no problem at all with the Aliens from AR and AVP. I mean, they have nothing on the original, but they don't look bad at all. And in the case of AR, I'm fine thinking of the differences in looks/actions as being side effects of the cloning process.

Well, I hate them with passion for taking out ALL the biomechanicality and the sexuality out of the design, but lets not dwell into it

[SM]

You mean like how they started taking it out with the very Alien depicted in your avatar...

What are you gunna do?

[StrangeShape]

You mean like how they started taking it out with the very Alien depicted in your avatar...

What are you gunna do?

It was just the neck with the runner. The body had a nice Gigerish designs

[SM]

The more upswept ribs, more organic mouth and lack of dorsal tubes all detracted from the mechanical part of biomechanical.

[StrangeShape]

The more upswept ribs, more organic mouth and lack of dorsal tubes all detracted from the mechanical part of biomechanical.

Ok yeah, but the lips added to the sexuality of the creature and the head was still of a phallic shape. And again, they compensated for lack of mechanical aspect on the body with Gigerish texture